The sports media is passing the torch for the first time

The sports media industry is currently in the middle of one of the most fascinating periods of the last decade with huge transitions taking place everywhere. Several of the biggest names in the business have either chosen to retire or have worked out a deal to take on a reduced role at their network, giving up their front-facing starring roles.

What’s amazing about this time period is that we’re really seeing a generational shift in sports media. As sports on television has grown exponentially over the last 3o years, many of these national figures have been front and center as the faces of its growth.

Bob Costas.

Chris Berman.

Brent Musburger.

Vin Scully.

Verne Lundquist.

Dick Enberg.

Yes, there have been others at the national and local level who have moved on in similar capacities or have changed places because of new contracts and free agency. But when you think about the most prominent sportscasters of our late 1900s to early 2000s generation, it’s worth arguing that those six names are at least part of the Top 20 and maybe even the Top 10 announcers in the industry. And within a period of just about six months, all of them have decided to step down.

That’s an unprecedented amount of transition for an industry where stability at the top is one of its defining qualities. In covering sports media, one of the most interesting things about the industry is that the networks value this stability and consistency, especially at the top of the totem pole, perhaps moreso than anything else. I’ve joked before that the job security for the top-of-the-line network jobs is the closest thing you can get to a supreme court life appointment in the private sector. Just look at some of the leading faces at the major networks right now. Some day Jim Nantz might announce 50 Masters golf tournaments. Joe Buck has already been the #1 announcer for Fox Sports for 20 years and could easily make it another 20 more if he so chooses. And with Mike Tirico now officially taking over for Bob Costas (and likely for Al Michaels within the next 5 years), he’ll be the face of NBC Sports coverage for the next two decades.

All totaled, these men that have retired or moved on within the last year have hundreds of combined years in front of the cameras presenting sports to a national television audience. Bob Costas has been hosting the Olympics since 1992. That was back when the Dream Team first became a thing. Chris Berman has been synonymous with ESPN and the NFL since 1979. That was the year the Steelers Beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII. Brent Musburger began hosting the NFL Today in 1975, which was the same year Walter Payton was drafted by the Chicago Bears. Scully, Lundquist, and Enberg have all been on the national scene for even longer than that.

George Jones once asked “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” and the networks might be asking the same question right now. Who are going to be the voices that provide the soundtrack for the biggest and best sporting events in the world for the next 25 years? Some of these questions have already been answered as it’s clear Tirico is the man to step up at NBC. We also know Brad Nessler will become Verne Lundquist’s successor for the NFL on CBS and ESPN put a plan in place a couple years ago to have Chris Fowler take over from Brent Musburger. But ESPN’s NFL hosting future is still up in the air after Chris Berman has stepped aside and we all know that replacing absolute legends like Scully and Enberg is no easy task.

This is really the first time we’ve seen a total generational shift in the sports media industry. Yes, there were times when legends like Mel Allen and Curt Gowdy and Jim McKay moved on and passed the torch to the likes of Musburger, Costas, etc. but it surely wasn’t on this scale. And given the sports television boom, many more sports announcers are household names than there were 40 or more years ago. Even Chris Berman at ESPN alone has probably been seen by hundreds of millions of people over the years and the same might be true with Costas hosting the Olympics. How many people can say they grew up with Brent Musburger, even if they were an NFL or NBA or college sports fan? Who’s going to be that next generation of sports announcers that will lead the way 20 or 30 years from now that might be calling Saturday afternoon NCAA basketball games or local MLB action?

These figures were the announcers that led us from Wide World of Sports on the weekends to sports being a 24/7/365 enterprise. And with the 24/7/365 news cycle, it’s sometimes tough to stop and pause and see the bigger picture unfolding. And what’s unfolding is an unprecedented time of transition in sports media, both with how we watch sports on mobile and tablet and computers and with the individuals who present them.

About Matt Yoder

Award winning sportswriter at The Comeback and Awful Announcing. The biggest cat in the whole wide world.

Costas Started at CBS in the 1970’s Scully was with the Dodgers before they moved to LA and was the voice of the NFL and golf for CBS in the 1970 and MLB and Golf at NBC in the 1980’s Lundquist was the voice of the Dallas Cowboys in the 170’s before moving to CBS full time in the 1980. Berman has been with ESPN since the begining in 1979 hosting the NFL since 1987 and covering MLB since they first gained the rights in 1989. while Enberg started covering LA sports in the 1960’s as voice of the Rams Angles and UCLA basketball until moving to NBC in the early 1970’s he then moved to CBS in 2000 and Musburger was with CBS from the 1970’s and 1980’s and ABC/ESPN from 1990 to 2017. These men are icons in the sports world. the only true icons left in starting roles are few and far between

Mike

What few people know is:
-Vin Scully & Dick Enberg also hosted game shows. Enberg was best known for Sports Challenge, which pitted teams of 3 from sports teams against each other.
-Bob Costas, of course,. announced the ABA Spirits of St Louis on KMOX & he reported to Jack Buck.
-Verne Lundquist hosted the very popular Bowling for Dollars show in Dallas and many there know him best for that.
-Brent Musberger was a sports writer in Chicago & a TV news anchor in LA before going national with CBS.

Walt_Gekko

Didn’t know that Scully hosted game shows, but besides Sports Challenge, Enberg hosted a couple of other game shows on NBC, “Baffle” and “Three For The Money” I believe.

epm54338

This is a joke, right? Fans tune in to watch the event not the listen to the announcer. Millions of sports fans who attend the games live or watch in sports bars are able to follow the action without listening to the overpaid announcer, the overpaid “expert commentator” and the totally frivolous sideline reporters. Most broadcasts have become a non-stop gabfest. As long as the announcer gives accurate information very few people care who is broadcasting a televised event except the overpaid announcers and those members of the media who cover sports media.

A.J.

That’s not necessarily true. I will always watch a game called by Marv Albert. However, it is annoying if Reggie Miller is the color guy as opposed to somebody like Mike Fratello. Fratello and Albert have a great chemistry and are interesting and funny together. By the same token, I will refuse to watch games being called by certain announcers because they are so grating. For example, I can’t handle a Gus Johnson-called game and refuse to watch it.’

So you’re kinda wrong.

Roy Johnson

All these old geezers should have been replaced years ago. New blood has been needed for the longest time. How much new shit can Terry, Howie & Jimmy come up with every year? None. It’s old. The same conversations repeated year after year, week after week.